Statement

I will always be in a process of discovery/revelation about how I do what I do and how I feel about what I do. 

Images arise from memories, dreams, reflections -- a process that may start with a fragment or a feeling held internally for a year or more. The image evolves, an intuitive meandering, coalescing, clarifying. I wait until it all feels right before I start to work.

I think of myself as meticulous.  I begin with a pencil sketch and then work with eight, nine, ten or more thin layers of oil.  The piece evolves like a dream, as if the painting is rising up from the bottom of a pool, becoming more distinct with each layer, until it “breaks the surface” and feels complete.  I let the painting go only when I’m sure that it’s as good as I can make it or when my constant fiddling with the surface threatens to ruin the work.

I was born and raised in St. Louis and received a B.F.A. from the University of Missouri.  I studied filmmaking at Columbia College, Chicago, for two years with the idea of becoming a documentary filmmaker.  I also spent many years restoring historic homes and properties in Oak Park.  

In my fifties, I returned to painting.